Star-striker Cherelle Khassal has revealed her excitement as Chichester City Ladies prepare to do battle with Liverpool Ladies in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup.
The women’s side has never made it this far and all the girls are still trying to process this opportunity, says Khassal in an interview with Southwaves Radio.
She explained: “It’s still really overwhelming and then to pull Liverpool out of the hat it’s just incredible, so I think we’re all just trying to get to grips with it, but we’re working hard, training hard on the pitch to make sure we give them a good game on Sunday.”
City earned the right to contest this fifth-round match after beating The New Saints on penalties in the fourth-round.
A goal from Khassal in normal time took the game to extra-time, where skipper Emma Alexandre went down with a nasty head injury.
Khassal scoring against The New Saints
Quizzed by Jamie Dyer on Southwaves Radio, Khassal was asked what was going through the team’s head at this stage of the tie. She said: “Everyone’s emotions were really high, some of us were really down.
“So, when we come back on pitch and the full-time whistle goes, we were all just physically drained, but we had to do it for Emma.”
Chi shot-stopper, Sadie Wilson-Blakely, pulled off a fantastic save to give Jess Lewry the chance to send her team to the next round, which she did with ease.
Celebrations after Jess Lewry penalty
Having the game at home will be a big boost for everyone here at Chi and we are all really excited for Sunday, says Khassal.
She added: “All of us girls love playing here, and we always get a good crowd at Oaklands, we got our amazing fans behind us so for us having that at home was massive to all of us.”
When asked what she would say to people who were thinking about coming, Khassal said: “It’s for the community, getting people together, supporting Chi on a good family day out.
“I wouldn’t hesitate if I was any of them, come down, join in with the chants because I’m sure there’ll be plenty of them and hopefully we’ll win.”
The game will take place Sunday 18th February at Oaklands Park for a 2pm kick-off and tickets are available now by following the link on the Chichester City Ladies website.
In other news, Chi have bolstered their midfield with the dual signing of Chloe Melton from Southampton Saints and Natasha Stephens from Portsmouth.
Both players are excited to start their Chi careers and have fitted in well with the Oaklands Park outfit.
Stephens said: “Straight away Chichester have been incredibly friendly, and outgoing having talked to the management and coaches I am really excited about the coming months.”
Main picture is Khassal in action against C&K Basildon (Pic: Tommy McMillan)
Pictures: Chichester Ladies Twitter account
